Rideau Street construction is devastating business, say retailers
Some fear they’ll need to move to an area with more pedestrian traffic
Stung by a drop in business they blame on ongoing roadwork, a number of Rideau Street business owners say they are ready to walk away from downtown Ottawa.
“It’s devastating us, if you want to be honest,” said Corey Hackett, co-owner of Top of the World skateboard shop, which has been on Rideau Street for 23 years. “I was worried, but I thought, ‘Time will tell.’ Well, time has told.”
The construction of the Confederation Line LRT means Rideau Street will remain closed to most vehicle traffic between Mackenzie Avenue and Dalhousie Street until 2018. Business owners say they’ve seen a significant drop in pedestrian traffic as well.
Hackett said walk-in traffic to his shop has fallen by more than 50 per cent since construction began.
The drop in foot traffic is happening during the important Christmas shopping season, the threemonth stretch when many retailers make the majority of their profit.
Traffic has become so light in the downtown core that finding parking and moving around the Rideau Street and ByWard Market area is easier to do than ever before, Hackett said. But that hasn’t changed the public’s perception that the area is a giant construction zone to be avoided. Rideau Street is only closed to car traffic for a short span. Pedestrians, and some buses, can still travel along the roadway.
“The street closure ... all it’s done is discouraged people from coming down here,” he said. “I stood there for a half-hour yesterday to count how many actual construction vehicles were coming in to justify the fact that the entire street is closed off. There was one in that halfhour. It’s turned the whole place into a ghost town.”
Hackett isn’t alone in his complaints. Sam Dalbah, franchise owner of the Second Cup coffee house at the corner of Dalhousie and Rideau streets, said he is also concerned. The middle of November usually sees more shoppers in the downtown core, which means more coffee sales from consumers. This year, business is already down as much as 19 per cent, Dalbah said.
“It’s really bad. It seems to be non-stop for us in this area,” said Dalbah.
“This is our busiest season. It should be really busy. After Christmas time (comes) the slowest season. That’s my concern. Am I going to be able to cover my rent, my employees, my overhead, all of that stuff? Business after Christmas goes down dramatically.”
Both Dalbah and Hackett said they are considering their options. With more than two years left before construction is completed, neither is sure whether he can wait it out. Hackett, in particular, is afraid of losing his two-decadeold business. Dalbah said his lease is up for renewal early next year and he might use the opportunity to move his business somewhere with less disruption.
Hackett said he is concerned that the city is doing little to help boost the profile of businesses affected by the Rideau Street construction. Without intervention, he said, the city might find itself opening its new transit station in 2018 to a street that has nothing to offer consumers outside of the Rideau Centre.
“Do they want to open this brand new transit station so people can come out and see a whole bunch of boarded up shops?”
Peggy DuCharme, executive director of the Downtown Rideau Business Improvement Area, said several members have expressed concern about the lowered foot traffic on Rideau Street. But it’s too early to blame it on construction, she said, as it’s been a warmer fall than usual and many merchants believe that the Christmas shopping season won’t really pick up until temperatures fall and the snow starts flying.
She said the BIA is preparing a survey for its members to get a better understanding of how they’ve been affected and what factors they believe are impacting any change in business they might be seeing.
Rideau-Vanier Councillor Mathieu Fleury said a plan is in place to help promote the area, however he would not comment on the plan specifically as it is “confidential” until announced by the BIAs in downtown Ottawa in December.
Fleury said he sympathizes with the businesses affected, but said the area is long overdue for renewal.
The construction that is happening in the city’s core over the next three years will result in even more people wanting to head downtown to shop.
“We do need to renew the infrastructure,” said Fleury. “You look at zones where we have and those areas thrive afterwards. It is obviously really tough during the construction months. There’s a big picture here and there is no other part of town that is seeing this level of investment.”
We do need to renew the infrastructure. You look at zones where we have and those areas thrive afterwards.